Craft Brewer Brewdog reports its latest £25 million crowdfunding drive ended £6 million short of target.

The Ellon-based brewer said the fourth-round Equity for Punks crowdfunding drive raised £19 million, meaning it attracted £5.5 million of investment between January and the April 22 deadline.

Brewdog will retain the funds raised from the latest Equity for Punks crowdfunding as it is structured differently from the likes of the Kickstarter model, which returns investment pledges if a funding drive fails to meet its target.

Brewdog Co-founder James Watt said: “It was a risk creating a whole new business model back in 2009, but we’re all about taking risks to make sure we’re doing things our way, the punk way, and not bowing to stuffy industry formality.

“It’s paid off, and we’re psyched with the results of Equity for Punks IV.

“No other company would be bold enough to set the bar this high.”

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Brewdog said the fourth round crowdfunding would fund expansion at its Ellon brewery and part-fund a $30 million new brewery development in Columbus, Ohio.

The company announced in February is plans to launch a US crowdfunding drive, Equity for Punks USA, in May to fund its US expansion plans.

Earlier in April the brewer noted a drop in profits for the 2015 year despite revenues soaring 51 per cent to £44.7 million after clocking up £17.61 million in capital spend purchasing plant, property and equipment.

The brewer said its growth had been held back by capacity constraints, though it has now expanded its Ellon brewery and the new capacity coming online this month will cover 10 times current annual sales.

The company also notes its bespoke distillery business, Lone Wolf, “will go into production in the next couple of weeks”.

Brewdog said it is also planning to open new bars in Amsterdam, Malmö and Warsaw.

Last September Brewdog launched a mini bond sale in partnership with CrowdCube to bolster its fourth round crowdfunding drive which saw it issue £2,312,000 in non-convertible bonds with interest rates of 6.5 per cent a year with the capital sum returned when the four-year bond matures.

The company noted in most recent accounts £12.1 million of capital commitments were “contracted for but not provided in the financial statements” in the 2015 year to December.

Brewdog noted in the accounts it drew down a £5 million bank loan in the 2015 year which is “repayable on demand” and up for review on June 30, 2016.

Companies House records also show Brewdog registered a new debt security with HSBC Invoice Finance (UK) Ltd on March 16, 2016, giving a floating charge security “over the whole of the property (including uncalled capital)”.

No detail on the HSBC facility was included in the annual report.

Brewdog noted in a crowdfunding update in January “.. every single penny raised is set to be reinvested in our business to help grow BrewDog for those who have become shareholders”.

The company said today: “It's still correct that we are reinvesting every single penny raised to grow our business; our general working capital & profitability is sufficient to service any debt requirements”

Commenting on the close of the fourth-round Equity for Punks, Watt said: “We’ll be ploughing the money raised into expansion across the Atlantic and pioneering new projects here in the UK.

“We can’t wait to launch Lone Wolf and our sour facility in Ellon, and we have some mega new cathedrals of craft on the way.

He added: “We’ve turned more than 42,000 people into passionate brand ambassadors, and raised enough money to keep the momentum of the craft uprising going in the process.